The last sixty years have been full of stories of one or other possible Armageddon, whether by nuclear war, plague, cosmic catastrophe or, more recently, global warming, terrorism, genetic engineering, AIDS and other pandemics. These stories, both pre- and post-apocalyptic, describe the fall of civilization, the destruction of the entire Earth, or the end of the Universe itself. Many of the stories reflect on humankind's infinite capacity for self-destruction, but the stories are by no means all downbeat or depressing - one key theme explores what the aftermath of a cataclysm might be and how humans strive to survive.

Our dark past brought to life by leading contemporary crime writers

A new generation of crime writers has broadened the genre of crime fiction, creating more human stories of historical realism, with a stronger emphasis on character and the psychology of crime.

This superb anthology of 12 novellas encompasses over 4,000 years of our dark, criminal past, from Bronze Age Britain to the eve of the Second World War, with stories set in ancient Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, medieval Venice, seventh-century Ireland and 1930s' New York.

A Byzantine icon painter, suddenly out of work when icons are banned, becomes embroiled in a case of deception; Charles Babbage and the young Ada Byron try to crack a coded message and stop a master criminal; and New York detectives are on the lookout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Deirdre Counihan, Tom Holt, Dorothy Lumley, Richard A. Lupoff, Maan Meyers, Ian Morson, Anne Perry, Tony Pollard, Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Steven Saylor, Charles Todd, Peter Tremayne


This thought-provoking collection not only takes us into the past and the future, but also explores what might happen if we attempt to manipulate time to our own advantage. These stories show what happen once you start to meddle with time and the paradoxes that might arise. It also raises questions about whether we understand time, and how we perceive it. Once we move outside the present day, can we ever return or do we move into an alternate world? What happens if our meddling with Nature leads to time flowing backwards, or slowing down or stopping all together? Or if we get trapped in a constant loop from which we can never escape. Is the past and future immutable or will we ever be able to escape the inevitable? These are just some of the questions that are raised in these challenging, exciting and sometimes amusing stories by Kage Baker, Simon Clark, Fritz Leiber, Christopher Priest, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, John Varley and many others.

An all-new collection of exciting murder-mysteries with historical settings

This new volume of historical murder and mystery contains over 20 specially commissioned stories ranging in period from Ancient Rome to the reign of Good Queen Bess. It features original stories from such masters as Steven Saylor, Peter Tremayne, Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, Kate Ellis, Michael Jecks, Edward D. Hoch and Marilyn Todd.

· In Steven Saylor’s Roman tale, Poppy and the Poisoned Cake, Gordianus the Finder feels his latest assignment is suspiciously easy to solve.
· Edward D. Hoch puts a novel twist on the locked-room mystery by setting it on a “locked ship” — Christopher Columbus’s, in fact!
· In Flibbertigibbet Paul Finch unleashes a deranged serial killer on Elizabethan London.
· Falstaff ’s successor Sir Johan de Mandeville turns sleuth in Keith Taylor’s Bene?t of Clergy.
· Sister Fidelma must solve the mystery of a murdered Celtic monk in Death of an Icon by Peter Tremayne.
· A pig provides the key to Michael Jecks’s latest Sir Baldwin mystery.-
· Cherith Baldry turns Geoffrey Chaucer into a secret agent in her version of The Pilgrim’s Tale.
· Anarchy and murderous intent rule when the Romans leave the British Isles in Richard Butler’s The Last Legion.
. . . plus many more tales of dark age murder and mayhem!


In the golden days of Ancient Greece and Rome, amidst the splendid art and architecture, the philosophy and politics - there was always a full measure of intrigue, mystery and murder.

In this new collection twenty-two writers take up their pens to give an enthralling picture of classical crime. Favourite historical detectives such as Gordianus the Finder, Decius Metellus, and Sister Fidelma rub shoulders with eminent temporary sleuths such as Socrates and that honourable man Brutus, whilst other great names - Augustus, Archimedes, and even the spoilt and beautiful goddess of love, Aphrodite herself - also become enmeshed in terrible and ingenious crimes.

Contributors include:
Keith Heller
Edward D. Hoch
Phyllis Ann Karr
Theodore Mathieson
Amy Myers
Wallace Nichols
Anthony Price
Steven Saylor
Darrell Schweitzer
Brian Stableford
Keith Taylor
and many more


The third new collection of historical murder and mystery stories A brilliant new collection of thirty stories of mystery and intrigue spread over three thousand years, from Ancient Egypt to spies on the Titanic. Selected by bestselling editor Mike Ashley, the stories include brand new contributions as well as rare reprints, from writers such as Ian Rankin, Lynda Robinson, Sharan Newman, Gail Frazer, Gillian Linscott and Peter Tremayne. Among the characters featured are the Queen of Sheba, Attila the Hun, Hildegarde of Bingen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry the Navigator and Benjamin Franklin. And with settings as far-ranging as Botany Bay and ancient Pisa, New Amsterdam and old Edinburgh, ancient Greece and the court of Kublai Khan.

A new collection of magic and mayhem from fantasy's funniest, wackiest writers, including Harlan Ellison, Esther Friesner, Neil Gailman, Craig Shaw Gardner, Harry Harrison, Tom Hold and Julia Mandala.

This selection of the very best writing on Everest begins with the first attempts and continues, via Mallory's failed bid and Hillary and Tenzing's triumph, to the disasters of recent years. It features 35 white-knuckle accounts of climbing on the world's highest mountain, with all the tragedy and triumph of humankind's striving for the top of the world, by those who know the 'Death Zone' best - the climbers themselves.
But this is much more than just the best of exhilarating first-hand accounts of climbing on Everest. It includes the full history of the conquest of Everest, and provides an evocative portrait of the cruel, natural beauty of Chomolungma, 'The Mother Goddess of the World'.


This dazzling new collection of off-the-wall fantasies features stories from the minds of the funniest writers in the field, including Esther Friesner, Neil Gaiman, Tom Holt, Paul di Filippo, Adam Roberts and Molly Brown. Here are 35 stories guaranteed to reassure us that the next-door world will be just as mad as this one.


It includes a mix of brand-new stories and rare finds or forgotten gems, with a wide range of tales to suit every taste in humour. From the missionary plunged into the bizarre initiation rituals of a lost tribe to the bloke who thought magic would help his love life, from a wizard allergic to magic who sneezes his way into chaos to a man who finds his shoes have taken over control of his life, The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy unfalteringly turns fantasy and horror fiction on its head and makes magic into mayhem. A welcome new shot of comic genius in the sphere of fantasy fiction.


Divided into three main sections, "The Ancient World", "The Middle Ages" and "Regency and Gaslight", The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits includes: The Thief versus Rhampsinitus by Herodotus - probably the earliest detective story ever written; The Locked Tomb Mystery, set in ancient Egypt, by Elizabeth Peters; a new story by John Maddox Roberts featuring the young Roman detective Decius Metellus; Robert van Gulik's ingenious He Came With the Rain featuring Judge Dee, a real-life character who lived in seventh-century China; a new story by Peter Tremayne, set in seventh-century Ireland and featuring Sister Fidelma; and, Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael story The Price of Light. It also includes: Paul Harding's The Confession of Brother Athelstan - A classic locked-room mystery featuring Lillian de la Torre's popular detective Sam Johnson; A story by Michael Harrison featuring August Dupin, the detective created by Edgar Allan Poe and the inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes; and, John Dickson Carr's acclaimed The Gentleman from Paris...and many more!

Bang up to date with fresh cover-ups relating to Barack Obama, Michael Jackson and Afghanistan The 100 military, medical, religious, alien, intelligence, banking and historical cover-ups 'they' really don't want you to know about: The Military-Industrial Complex's fomentation of war with Iraq; the construction of concentration camps in the United States by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency); the use of alien 'Foo Fighters' by the Nazis and the Japanese during the Second World War; the miracle natural drug suppressed by Big Pharma; the Israelis' responsibility for the bombing of USS Cole; the real reason why CERN broke down; the murder of Paul McCartney - and you didn't even know he was dead. Entertainingly written and closely documented, The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies uncovers the 100 most secret cover-ups in an accessible A-Z format. It covers 95 new conspiracies even more fiendish than those detailed in The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups by the same author, and provides fresh revelations regarding the five furthest-reaching conspiracies in that book, including the assassination of JFK and 9/11. The book includes a full bibliography and introduction.

The Mammoth Book of Merlin

by Mike Ashley

Published 24 September 2009
Over 20 tales chronicling the adventures of Merlin and the magic of the Arthurian world. This is a reissue of the superb collection, to coincide with NBCs primetime release of 20-part drama Merlin (first released in UK on BBC with record viewing figures, and a second series on the way).

Trafalgar set the seal on British naval supremacy, the most strategically significant victory in the age of sail. It was also one of the bloodiest and most confused naval conflicts ever known, with English, American, Irish, Spanish and French seamen among choking fumes and in constant peril below and above decks. This is the largest eyewitness collection of the battle, with over 50 first-hand accounts from all those involved. The accounts include: Nelson sends the signal 'England Expects The Every Man Will Do His Duty'. 11.56am, 21 October 1805 - Lieutenant George Brown, HMS Victory; and The First Shots: Fougueux Engages Royal Sovereign, 12.00 noon Captain Pierre Servaux, Master of Arms.

This book lays bare the truth behind the adventures of Flashman and Sharpe. It includes ten eyewitness accounts of the battles, the privations and the adventure of armed service during the French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 - a time of hussars, artillery, musket sword, patriotic fervour, inspired commanders, heroes and, always, bloody carnage on the field. From Austerlitz to Moscow, New Orleans to Salamanca here we find the ordinary soldier's view of the war: the battles and the campaigns that set Europe and America alight. Gathered from memoirs, letters and dairies this book includes gripping accounts of the era's greatest engagements as well as giving details of the soldier's life: short rations, long marches, pitiful wounds, pillage, lashings, armours and so often, death.

This text contains eyewitness accounts of the battles, the hardships, and the excitement of naval service during the French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812 - a time when combat at sea was won, not by technology but by sheer courage, wit and endurance. Gathered from memoirs, diaries and letters, the book includes accounts of the age's decisive naval engagements, as well as glimpses into Jack Tar's existence aboard a man-o-war; scurvy, whippings, storms, piracy, press gangs, drudgery and cannibalism.

The Mammoth Book of Battles

by Jon E. Lewis

Published 3 November 1999

The Mammoth Book of Covert Ops

by Jon E. Lewis

Published 16 January 2014

Twenty true stories of covert military operations, from raids into Laos by elite unit MAC-V-SOG to cut the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam War to the US Navy SEAL 6 operation Neptune's Spear in Abbottabad which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Lewis shines a light on the 'shadow war' units that conduct clandestine operations and tells in full and fascinating detail the most daring missions of the last fifty years, from the the Sayeret Mat'Kal/Mossad 'Wrath of God' mission to assassinate those behind the Munich Olympic massacre of Olympic athletes to the Delta Force mission in Somalia using Black Hawk helicopters which went so tragically wrong.


The Mammoth Book of Heroes

by Jon E. Lewis

Published 1 March 2012

True courage is a hugely valued aspect of humanity.

Many of the accounts in this volume are in the words of those who were there, of men and women who showed real courage, often with their own lives on the line. The tales include: the death of Sir Thomas More; George Washington at Valley Forge; Nelson losing his arm at Santa Cruz; Oscar Schindler saving the lives of Polish Jews; SOE heroine Violette Szabo in occupied France; the protesters in Tiananmen Square; and the New York firefighters and the airline passengers of flight UA49 on September 11th, 2001.


Many readers are attracted to science fiction for that singular moment when a story expands your imagination, enabling you to see something in a new light. Not all SF works this way! This volume collects the very best of it that does, with 25 of the finest examples of mind-expanding and awe-inspiring science fiction.

The storylines range from a discovery on the Moon that opens up vistas across all time to a moment in which distances across the Earth suddenly increase and people vanish. These are tales to take you from the other side of now to the very end of time - from today's top-name contributors including Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, Gregory Benford and Robert Reed.


This book includes more than 1000 monarchs who have at some time ruled all or part of Britain. This includes the host of tribal and Saxon rulers prior to 1066 as well as famous monarchs such as Richard III, Elizabeth I and Charles II and all the rulers of Scotland and Wales. The book gives full details of the lives of the rulers as well as their wives, consorts, pretenders, usurpers and regents and is a geographical guide to where all Britain's monarchs lived, ruled and died including their palaces, estates and resting places.